Soccer board game

ABSTRACT

A soccer board game includes at least two players take alternating turns moving at least one game piece around a game board in accordance with a defined set of rules. In one embodiment of the soccer board game, the object game play is to score the most goals through a repeated combination of moving a game piece and selectively deploying player tokens on unoccupied team spaces to indicate possession of that team space, landing on an action space and following the action designated by the action space or a chance card, landing on an occupied team space and moving the game piece forward if the team space is occupied by a player token belonging to the current player, and moving the game piece backward if the team space is occupied by a player token belonging to an opponent.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention relate to strategy-type games, and more specifically to strategy-type board games simulating soccer play. Although board games have existed for some time, board games designed to simulate soccer play remain relatively rare. Furthermore, the soccer board games that do exist are either very complicated to understand, or do not provide a sufficient strategy component to the game play so as to retain a player's interest for longer periods of time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which the like references indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a game board for use in connection with the soccer board game of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a soccer game board having organizational indicia indicated thereon in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention; and

FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate various team space occupation and corresponding game piece movement scenarios, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes a soccer board game. In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art will understand that such embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or invention. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Lastly, the terms “comprising”, “including”, “having”, and the like, as used in the present application, are intended to be synonymous.

In accordance with one embodiment of the soccer board game, at least two players take alternating turns moving at least one game piece around a game board in accordance with a defined set of rules. In one embodiment of the soccer board game, the object of game play is to score the most goals through a repeated combination of moving a game piece and selectively deploying player tokens on unoccupied team spaces to indicate possession of that team space, landing on an action space and following an action designated by the action space or a chance card, and landing on an occupied team space and moving the game piece forward if the team space is occupied by a player token belonging to the current player, and moving the game piece backward if the team space is occupied by a player token belonging to an opponent.

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of a game board for use in connection with the soccer board game of the present invention. As shown, the game board (10) represents a playing surface upon which a multitude of game spaces are defined. The game board (10) may represent either a physical playing surface, including both rigid and flexible playing surfaces, or a virtual playing surface, such as that which may be rendered by a computer or other electronic device. In the event the game board (10) represents a physical playing surface, at least two players take turns moving at least one physical game piece from one game space to another. In the event the game board (10) represents a virtual playing surface, at least two players take turns moving at least one virtual game piece from one virtual game space to another in response to user input received by a processing device e.g. via a user input device such as a keyboard, mouse, trackball and so forth.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, the game board (10) includes a first type of game space referred to as a team space (12), and a second type of game space referred to as an action space (13). Team spaces (12) represent game spaces that may either be occupied by a player (e.g. as indicated by the presence of a player token) or may be open (e.g. as indicated by the absence of a player token) at any given time for the duration of the game. Moreover, team spaces may be occupied by a player token belonging to a single player, or they may be occupied sequentially in time by player tokens belonging to different players. In one embodiment, when a player's game piece lands on an open team space, the player is given an option to deploy a player token on that particular space so as to occupy the space, or to take no action effectively ending the player's turn. After the player deploys a player token, or in the event the player opts not to deploy a player token, game play typically passes to the next player/opponent.

In one embodiment, each player is initially provided with thirteen player tokens, which are intended to represent soccer players. Of those thirteen player tokens, nine tokens (referred to as regular tokens) represent regular soccer players, two tokens (referred to as star tokens) represent star soccer players, and two substitute tokens (referred to as substitute tokens) represent substitute soccer players. In one embodiment, each of twenty-four team spaces defined on the game board (10) is associated with movement indicia (22) indicating a number of additional successive game spaces that the current player's game piece is to be moved if the team space is occupied by a regular player token and the game piece lands on the game space. In one embodiment, if the team space indicated (e.g. landed on) by the game piece is occupied by a star soccer player (e.g. as indicated by a star token), the current player's game piece is moved twice the amount of successive game spaces indicated by the movement indicia associated with the game space. In one embodiment, the movement indicia represent numbers ranging from one to five, however other numeric, alphanumeric, and non-numeric movement indicia may be used.

In one embodiment, team spaces may be further associated with one or more organizations such as soccer clubs/teams corresponding to various skill and organizational levels of play including but not limited to a country level, professional level, community, local and/or school levels and so forth. In one embodiment, the organizations are represented through additional indicia printed on corresponding team spaces. In one embodiment, the movement indicia associated with team spaces may correspond to each associated organization's relative ranking as compared to other teams at the same organizational level. FIG. 2 illustrates a soccer game board having organizational indicia indicated thereon in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention. More specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates a game board (10′) having team spaces adorned with organizational indicia (14) indicating which country a given team space (12) is associated with, as well as movement indicia (22) that is assigned to each team space (12) based upon, for example, the associated country's subjective relative ranking in the World Cup. Alternatively, team spaces may be associated with particular soccer player/personalities and the movement indicia may be assigned based upon each respective player's abilities.

Since there are typically more team spaces on the game board (10) than there are player tokens to be deployed, and the movement indicia vary across the team spaces, it is possible for players to gain a strategic advantage over their opponent(s) by being selective as to which open space(s) the players opt to deploy their respective player tokens. Notwithstanding the strategy component involved, a player may choose to deploy player tokens on team spaces that are associated with the game player's favorite soccer team and/or personality.

In contrast to team spaces, game piece movement on action spaces is not contingent upon whether a given action space is occupied by a player token, but may be contingent upon the location of a player's game piece. Action spaces indicate one or more of a number of actions that a player may take in response to the player's game piece landing on a given action space. More specifically, action spaces may, direct players to move their game piece forward or backward by an indicated number of game spaces, move their game piece to a specified game space, take another turn, lose a turn, rest (e.g. end a turn), and draw a chance card.

In one embodiment, chance cards are used to increase the unpredictability of game play and to provide each player with a further opportunity to score goals that is not contingent upon moving past a predetermined game space. The soccer board game described herein may include one or more sets or decks of chance cards along with action spaces marked so as to indicate from which deck a card should be drawn. For example, in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, “LINESMAN'S WHISTLE” spaces 20 a-20 d are provided, which when landed on by a player's game piece direct the player to choose a chance card from a first deck of chance cards stipulating offensive based actions. Similarly, “REFEREE'S WHISTLE” spaces 25 a-25 d are provided, which when landed on by a player's game piece direct the player to choose a chance card from a second deck of chance cards stipulating defensive based actions.

Certain chance cards may represent as yellow cards, red cards, and injury cards, which when chosen can each negatively affect game play for the player who chooses such cards. For example, players may choose chance cards representing “yellow cards” that may e.g. direct a player to move backwards a large number of game spaces, and “red cards” that may e.g. direct the player to move backwards a large number of game spaces and to remove the player token from the next team space they land on that they also occupy. As with the yellow and red cards, injury cards may also direct a current player to remove a player token from the next team space they land on and that they also occupy. Moreover, the effect of yellow cards, red cards, and injury cards may further be contingent upon which area or zone of the game board the player's game piece is located when the player draws the respective card. For example, in response to a player choosing a chance card, the player may instantly be awarded a goal if the player's game piece is located within a “penalty kick” zone, whereas the player may be directed to move a number of spaces if the player's game piece is not located within the “penalty kick” zone. In one embodiment, the game board (10) is divided into four location zones with each zone corresponding to a side of the game board. In the illustrated embodiment, the location zones include two “red card” sides (30 a, 30 b) a “free kick and yellow card” side (34), and a “penalty kick and yellow card” side (36).

In one embodiment, soccer players that are removed from the playing field due to an injury may be replaced on the field by a substitute soccer player. That is, in one embodiment player tokens that are removed from game spaces due to an injury card being drawn by a corresponding player are immediately replaced with a substitute token assuming all of the substitute tokens allocated to the player haven't previously been deployed. In one embodiment a substitute token may be deployed onto any open team space that the player's game piece subsequently lands on including the same game space that the player token was removed from, so long as the total number of player tokens deployed on the game board at any given time does not exceed 11. In one embodiment, if a player token is removed as a result of a player choosing a red card, the player is not allowed to immediately replace that player token with a substitute token. However, the player may deploy a remaining player token (whether a regular token or substitute token) on that space if it is landed on by the player's game piece during a subsequent turn. In one embodiment, once a player's substitute tokens have all been deployed, the player may not substitute for any players subsequently removed from the game board.

Examples of linesman's whistle and referee's whistle cards that may be used within the soccer board game are illustrated below:

Linesman's Whistle

-   1. FORWARD TO NEXT OWN SPACE -   2. FORWARD TO NEXT OPPONENT'S SPACE 3. -   3. FORWARD TO NEXT REST SPACE -   4. FORWARD TO NEXT O PEN SPACE -   5. FORWARD TO CLOSER OF REST OR OPEN SPACE -   6. GOAL -   7. CORNER KICK: FORWARD 4 SPACES -   8. FREE KICK: GOAL ON FREE KICK SIDE OR MOVE FORWARD 3 SPACES -   9. OFFSIDES: BACKWARD 4 SPACES -   10. YELLOW CARD IF YELLOW CARD SIDE & BACKWARD 8 SPACES. IF 2ND     YELLOW CARD, NEXT OWN PLAYER SENT OFF -   11. PENALTY KICK: GOAL ON PENALTY KICK SIDE OR MOVE FORWARD 6 SPACES -   12. INJURY CARD: NEXT OWN PLAYER OUT IF INJURY SPACE OR MISS ONE     TURN     Referee's Whistle -   1. BACKWARD TO CLOSEST OWN SPACE -   2. BACKWARD TO CLOSEST REST SPACE -   3. BACKWARD TO CLOSEST OPEN SPACE -   4. BACKWARD TO CLOSEST OPPONENT'S SPACE -   5. BACKWARD TO CLOSER OF REST OR OPEN SPACE -   6. OFFSIDES: FORWARD 4 SPACES -   7. GOAL KICK: FORWARD 5 SPACES -   8. CORNER KICK: BACKWARD 4 SPACES -   9. FREE KICK: OPPONENT'S GOAL IF FREE KICK SIDE OR MOVE BACKWARD 3     SPACES -   10. PENALTY KICK: OPPONENT'S GOAL IF PENALTY KICK SIDE OR MOVE     BACKWARD 8 SPACES -   11. INJURY CARD: NEXT OWN PLAYER OUT IF INJURY SPACE OR MISS ONE     TURN -   12. YELLOW CARD IF YELLOW CARD SIDE & BACKWARD 8 SPACES. IF 2^(ND)     YELLOW CARD, NEXT OWN PLAYER SENT OFF -   13. RED CARD ON NEXT OWN PLAYER IF RED CARD SIDE AND BACKWARD 10     SPACES

Example Game Piece Movement

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate various team space occupation and corresponding game piece movement scenarios, in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. In each of FIGS. 2A-2B, eight example games spaces (A-H) are shown. Of the eight game spaces, four spaces are team spaces (B, C, E, H) and four spaces are action spaces (A, D, F, G). Furthermore, two action spaces (A, F) are REST spaces indicating that no action need be taken by a player, one action space is a LINESMAN'S WHISTLE space (D) directing players to choose an offensive chance card, and one action space (G) is an OFFSIDES space directing players to move their game piece backward by 5 spaces.

In FIG. 2A, “regular” player tokens (16) are deployed on team spaces C and E and a regular opponent token (17) is deployed on team space H. Assuming the outcome of a first player's roll of a die is “2”, the first player will move their game piece (18) to team space C. Because game space C is occupied by the first player's own player token (16), the first player continues to move their game piece two additional spaces as determined by the movement indicia (22) associated with team space C. Once again, because team space E is also occupied by the player's own regular token (16), the first player continues to move their game piece (18) successively forward to team space H. However, since team space H is occupied by an opponent player's regular token (17), the first player moves their game piece successively backward to team space F, which is a REST space. At this point the first player's turn ends.

In FIG. 2B, the same eight game spaces are shown as were illustrated in FIG. 2A, expect in FIG. 2B, team space E is occupied by an opponent player's regular token (17) rather than the first player's regular token (16). As a result, at the end of the first player's turn, their game piece (18) ends up on team space B rather than four games spaces forward on team space F as was the outcome in FIG. 2A. Thus it can readily be seen that the mere change of possession of a single team space can change the resulting position of a player's game piece. Additionally, because team space B is not occupied by any player tokens (e.g. is open), the first player is given the option of occupying team space B assuming they have additional player tokens remaining to be deployed.

Example Game Play

Although there may be many variations of game play available in the soccer board game described herein, one representative game play flow is now described for the purposes of example. In the example, the soccer board game is played by two players who each move their own game piece around the game board. At the start, the game pieces are positioned at goal space (15), which when passed by a game piece causes a corresponding player to score a goal. The players proceed in turn to move their respective game pieces around the perimeter of the game board (10) in a clockwise fashion.

To begin the game, a player uses a die to determine an initial number of spaces to move their game piece. Although in the present example, a single die is used, it is considered to be within the scope of the invention that any other chance device may be used. For example, other such chance devices may include but are not limited to, multiple dice, spinners and electronically generated random numbers (in the case of a computer implemented version of the soccer board game). In response to the outcome of the die, the player then moves their game piece the appropriate number of spaces on the game board.

When the game piece lands on an open team space, the player may deploy a star token or a regular token on that space. The next time the player's own game piece lands on this space, the player will move their game piece forward as many spaces as the movement indicia (e.g. number) on the team space indicates. That is unless a star token has been deployed on the team space, in which case, the player moves their game piece forward double the number of spaces as that indicated. Conversely, the next time the opponent's game piece lands on this team space, the opponent will move their game piece backward by as many spaces as indicated by the movement indicia. That is, unless a star token has been deployed, in which case, the opponent will move their game piece backward by double the indicated number of spaces. In one embodiment, a player's game piece is not allowed to move farther back than the starting space (e.g. in this case the goal space) and a goal cannot be scored by landing on the starting space when moving backward. When a player's game piece lands on a space marked “LINESMAN'S WHISTLE” or “REFEREE'S WHISTLE”, the respective player chooses a chance card, takes the action indicated on the card, and then replaces the card at the bottom of the pile. Again, a player will never move farther back than start arrow.

The player continues to move their respective game piece backward or forward on the game board until their game piece lands on a REST space, OPEN space, LINESMAN'S WHISTLE space, REFEREE'S WHISTLE space, or other space that does not result in any action besides drawing a card. If a player lands on an open space they may then choose to place a player token on an open space at the end of a turn. In the present example, offensive goals can be scored by: a) a player's game piece landing on or passing the “Goal” space or another designated game space as a result of moving forward; b) selecting a “Free Kick” LINESMAN'S WHISTLE card if own game piece is on the “Free Kick Side”; c) selecting a “Penalty Kick” LINESMAN'S WHISTLE card if own game piece is on the “Penalty Kick Side”; d) moving past the designated “Goal” space when directed by a LINESMAN'S WHISTLE card or a REFEREE'S WHISTLE card; and e) choosing a chance card indicating a scored Goal.

In the present example, defensive Goals can be allowed by: a) selecting a “Free Kick” chance card REFEREE'S WHISTLE card when opponent is on the “Free Kick Side”; and b) selecting a “Penalty Kick” REFEREE'S WHISTLE card when opponent is on the “Penalty Kick Side”.

If LINESMAN'S WHISTLE or REFEREE'S WHISTLE Injury Card is selected and the game piece corresponding to the player selecting the card is located on a space that says “INJURY CARD: NEXT OWN PLAYER OUT”, the player receives an INJURY MARKER. Furthermore, the next time the player lands on an occupied one of their own team spaces, the corresponding player token is removed from the game board (e.g. the Soccer player is considered injured and taken off of the playing field) for the remainder of match. Furthermore, the player's turn ends at that spot. A substitute token must then replace the removed player token immediately if the player's substitute tokens are not already deployed elsewhere. If no substitute tokens are available, the player plays with one fewer player tokens.

If player selects a red card from e.g. the REFEREE'S WHISTLE card pile while the player's game piece is positioned in one of the two RED CARD SIDE zones (30 a, 30 b), the player receives a red card marker and takes the action designated on the chance card. Additionally, the next team space landed on and occupied by the player results in the player's player token being removed from the game board (e.g. Soccer player being sent off the field) without a substitute replacement being allowed. Furthermore, the player does not move forward and the player's turn ends at this point.

If a player selects a yellow card from e.g. the LINESMAN'S WHISTLE card pile while the player's game piece is positioned in one of the two YELLOW CARD SIDE zones (34, 36), the player receives a yellow card marker and takes the action designated on the card. If a player receives two yellow cards, they have to remove the their player token from the next team space they encounter that they also possess. As with the red card, no substitutes are available, the player does not move forward, and the player's turn ends at this point. However, a new player token belonging to the player maybe deployed on this team space if the team space is landed upon again during another of the player's turns. If a player draws a chance card directing a player to move their game piece forward or backward to their own or an opponent's team space and there are no player tokens deployed on the game board, the player moves to the nearest forward or backward open space.

If, by chance, the manner in which player tokens are deployed results in a player's game token being left in a continuous loop, that player's turn stops at the point on the game board that is part of the continuous loop that is the farthest forward.

Epilogue

As will be evident to those familiar with board game play, although the rules and associated game play described herein suggests one or more methods of play, other methods of play may nonetheless be practiced without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, although the game spaces are described and illustrated as being disposed around the perimeter of the game board, the game spaces may nonetheless be disposed in any pattern, whether geometric or otherwise. Similarly, player tokens may take any physical or virtual form including both two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms. 

1. A soccer board game comprising: a game board having game spaces defined thereon; a plurality of player tokens to be selectively positioned by a first player on the game board so as to occupy a first plurality of the game spaces; a plurality of opponent tokens to be selectively positioned by an opponent player on the game board so as to occupy a second plurality of the game spaces; and a first game piece to be moved by the first player within a player turn, from a starting game space to a first transitional game space and one or more successive game spaces, wherein when the first transitional game space is occupied by a first player token, the game piece is advanced to a first successive game space by an amount indicated by movement indicia associated with the first transitional game space, and when the first transitional game space is occupied by a first opponent token, the game piece is moved backward to a second successive game space by an amount indicated by the movement indicia associated with the first transitional game space.
 2. The soccer board game of claim 1, wherein when the first successive game space is occupied by a second of the plurality of player tokens, the first game piece is advanced to a third successive game space by an amount indicated by movement indicia associated with the first successive game space, and when the first successive game space is occupied by a second of the plurality of opponent tokens, the game piece is moved backwards to a fourth successive game space by an amount indicated by the movement indicia associated with the first successive game space.
 3. The soccer board of claim 2, wherein the fourth successive game space comprises the first transitional game space.
 4. The soccer board of claim 2, wherein the fourth successive game space comprises the second successive game space.
 5. The soccer board game of claim 1, further comprising a second game piece to be moved by the opponent player within an opponent player turn, from the starting game space to a second transitional game space, wherein when the second transitional game space is occupied by a second of the plurality of opponent tokens, the second game piece is advanced to a third successive game space by an amount indicated by movement indicia associated with the second transitional game space, and when the second transitional game space is occupied by a second of the plurality of player tokens, the second game piece is moved backward to a fourth successive game space by an amount indicated by the movement indicia associated with the second transitional game space.
 6. The soccer board game of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of chance cards to be drawn by the first player in response to the first game piece landing on one of a plurality of game spaces indicating a card draw.
 7. The soccer board game of claim 6, wherein the chance cards indicate one or more conditional actions to be taken by the first player conditioned upon a location of the first game piece on the game board.
 8. The soccer board game of claim 7, wherein the one or more conditional actions comprise moving the game piece forward by an indicated number of game spaces, moving the game piece backwards by an indicated number of game spaces, and scoring a goal.
 9. The soccer board game of claim 7, wherein the one or more conditional actions comprise moving the game piece forward or backward by an unspecified number of spaces to be determined based upon previous deployment locations of the player tokens and opponent tokens.
 10. The soccer board game of claim 6, wherein the plurality of chance cards comprise one or more injury cards, which when drawn by the first player, direct the first player to remove a player token from a next subsequent game space indicated by the first game piece that is also occupied by a player token.
 11. The soccer board game of claim 10, wherein the first player replaces a removed player token with a substitute player token if the first player possesses at least one of the plurality of player tokens that has not been deployed, and the first player plays with one less than the plurality of player tokens if the plurality of player tokens have been previously deployed.
 12. The soccer board game of claim 6, wherein the game board is divided into at least a red card zone and a yellow card zone, wherein one or more of the plurality of chance cards direct the first player to remove a player token from the game board if the first game piece is located within the red card zone.
 13. The soccer board game of claim 12, wherein the first player is directed to remove a player token from the game board after the first player draws two yellow card chance cards while the first game piece is located within the yellow card zone.
 14. The soccer board game of claim 1, wherein the plurality of player tokens and the plurality of opponent tokens each comprise 13 tokens representing soccer players.
 15. The soccer board game of claim 14, wherein each of the plurality of player tokens and the plurality of opponent tokens including nine ordinary players, two substitute players, and two star players.
 16. The soccer board game of claim 14, wherein each of the first player and the opponent player can occupy up to eleven game spaces on the game board with a corresponding number of player tokens at any given time.
 17. The soccer board game of claim 1, wherein when the first transitional game space is occupied by a second player token representing a star player, the game piece is advanced to a third successive game space by a multiple of the amount indicated by the movement indicia associated with the first transitional game space, and when the first transitional game space is occupied by a second opponent token representing a star player, the game piece is moved backward to a fourth successive game space by the multiple of the amount indicated by the movement indicia associated with the first transitional game space.
 18. The soccer board game of claim 1, wherein each of a subset of the game spaces is associated with one of a plurality of countries.
 19. The soccer board game of claim 18, wherein each of the subset of the game spaces is adorned with indicia corresponding to an associated one of the plurality of countries.
 20. The soccer board game of claim 18, wherein the amount indicated by the movement indicia is based upon the associated one of the plurality of countries.
 21. The soccer board game of claim 1, wherein each of a subset of the game spaces is associated with one of a plurality of soccer organizations.
 22. The soccer board game of claim 1, wherein the first player moves the first game piece from the starting game space to the first transitional game space based upon an outcome of a chance device.
 23. The soccer board game of claim 22, wherein the chance device comprises at least one die.
 24. A soccer board game comprising: a game board having game spaces indicated thereon, the game spaces defined by at least a first game space type and a second game space type; a game piece to be moved by a first player from a starting game space to at least one successive game space; a plurality of player tokens to be selectively positioned by a first player on the game board so as to occupy a first plurality of the game spaces corresponding to the first game space type; a plurality of opponent tokens to be selectively positioned by an opponent player on the game board so as to occupy a second plurality of the game spaces corresponding to the first game space type; rules to establish game play including how the game piece can be moved from one game space to another in an attempt by the first player to achieve a desired outcome, wherein the rules provide for the first player to, within a single turn, move the game piece to occupy a first game space on the game board based upon an outcome of a chance device, determine whether the first game space corresponds to the first game space type, and move the game piece forward an additional number of spaces when the first game space is associated with the first game space type and is occupied by a player token, and move the game piece backwards the additional number of spaces when the first game space is associated with the first game space type and is occupied by an opponent token.
 25. The soccer board game of claim 24, wherein the desired outcome comprises the first player scoring more goals than the opponent player.
 26. The soccer board game of claim 24, wherein the desired outcome comprises the first player scoring an identified number of goals before the opponent player.
 27. The soccer board game of claim 24, wherein the additional number of spaces is determined by indicia associated with the first game space.
 28. The soccer board game of claim 24, wherein the rules further provide for the first player to have an option to place a player token on the first game space when the first game space corresponds to the first game space type and the first game space is open.
 29. The soccer board game of claim 28, wherein the plurality of player tokens and the plurality of opponent tokens each comprises 13 tokens representing soccer players including nine ordinary players, two substitute players, and two star players.
 30. The soccer board game of claim 28, wherein the rules further provide for the first player to occupy up to eleven game spaces on the game board with a corresponding number of player tokens at any given time.
 31. The soccer board game of claim 24, wherein the rules further provide for the first player to score a point by at least one of a first and second event occurring, wherein the first event comprises the first player advancing the game piece past a predetermined game space, and the second event comprises the first player drawing a chance card indicating the scoring of a point.
 32. The soccer board game of claim 24, wherein the chance device comprises at least one die.
 33. A soccer board game comprising: a playing field having a plurality of game spaces indicated thereon; a playing piece for moving amongst the game spaces; means for randomly determining a first game space onto which the playing piece is to be moved by the first player within a given turn; means for indicating on a game space occupied by the playing piece whether the occupied game space is associated with one of a first player and an opponent player; means for identifying one of two subsequent game spaces to which the playing piece is to be moved by the first player within the turn, based at least in part upon whether the occupied game space is associated with the first player or the opponent player, wherein the playing piece is advanced from the first game space by an amount identified by said means for identifying, when it is indicated that the first game space is associated with the first player, and the playing piece is moved backwards from the first game space by the amount identified by said means for identifying, when it is indicated that the first game space is associated with the opponent player.
 34. The soccer board game of claim 33, further comprising a plurality of chance cards to be drawn by the first player in response to the playing piece landing on a game space indicating a card draw.
 35. The soccer board game of claim 34, wherein the chance cards indicate one or more conditional actions to be taken by the first player conditioned upon a location of the first game piece on the game board.
 36. A soccer board game comprising: a game board having a plurality of game spaces defined around a perimeter of the board, the game spaces including a soccer action spaces and soccer team spaces, as identified by first indicia printed on each of the plurality of game spaces; and at least one game piece to be moved amongst the plurality of game spaces; wherein an object of the soccer board game is for a first player to score more goals than one or more additional players by moving forward and backward around the game board based at least in part upon a chance component and a strategy component.
 37. The soccer board game of claim 36, wherein each of the soccer team spaces is associated with one of a plurality of countries.
 38. The soccer board game of claim 37, wherein each of the soccer team spaces is adorned with indicia corresponding to an associated one of the plurality of countries.
 39. The soccer board game of claim 36, wherein each of the soccer team spaces is associated with one of a plurality of soccer organizations. 